


The Grasp of Leather

by talonyth



Series: Commissions [2]
Category: Persona 5
Genre: F/F, Fluff, I'm Bad At Tagging, the obligatory thief and cop au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-02
Updated: 2017-08-02
Packaged: 2018-12-10 05:01:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,439
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11684613
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/talonyth/pseuds/talonyth
Summary: Haru could still feel Makoto’s fingertips grazing her vest when she was back home, a split second too late to get her. Makoto was getting closer and closer to catching her.Every night.





	The Grasp of Leather

**Author's Note:**

  * For [boxofwonder](https://archiveofourown.org/users/boxofwonder/gifts).



> this was a snack commission written for my bff nico and it was incredibly much fun to write. i love haru and makoto a lot ok

Nothing compared to the feeling of jumping over the roofs of the town in the evening, streets alight with the warm glow of lanterns. It hadn’t been easy to learn how to do this - Haru couldn’t count the amount of times she had slipped in the beginning. Luck had always been on her side for these kinds of things though. 

She never stopped loving it. That was something she didn’t want anyone to take from her. Not her father, not her fiancé, not justice itself would. The freedom this feeling gave her wasn’t simply about doing it for the thrill of the forbidden. 

Haru did it because it was just. Something an inspector would never agree with. But if she brought back what had been stolen in the first place, how was it theft?

“You have nowhere to hide!” 

That voice. Crystal clear and strong, it rang through the night. Her arch nemesis, the only inspector who had yet to give up on catching her. Haru hoped Makoto never would. 

“I know you are up here,” she breathed. Haru rested her back against the chimney and exhaled, no breath left in her lungs. Makoto was sharp, had always been ever since they were younger. Footsteps drew closer. Haru pulled the framed portrait against her chest. 

And then, she walked. Taking the same steps as Makoto, she circled around the chimney as did Makoto and lunged when she was spotted. 

She could still feel Makoto’s fingertips grazing her vest when she was back home, a split second too late to get her. Makoto was getting closer and closer to catching her. 

Every night. 

\---

“Oh, what’s that?”

Makoto grasped Haru’s hand and traced her thumb over her fingers, one by one. It wasn’t uncomfortable - Haru was sure Makoto already knew where they came from. But she kept up the charade, for some reason or another. Haru hoped it was because she agreed with her reasons even if Makoto herself couldn’t outright let her roam freely as she wished. So were the laws. 

“Gardening takes quite the toll on your hands,” she replied and smiled. 

Makoto’s eyes fixed on hers for a moment. It wasn’t easy to keep her smile as always when Makoto was so bright and smart that she had to know by now. 

The worst was that it didn’t make Haru feel bad about what she did. Solely about lying to Makoto, that was all. But being the Beauty Thief, that she didn’t regret. 

“I’ll buy you a pair of gardening gloves,” Makoto eventually said and smiled. She looked beautiful like this. Haru wished they could always stay like this.

But she had chosen her path and Makoto had chosen hers as well. 

\---

Haru set the painting next to the bed of the young artist, careful not to wake him. It felt a little bit like Christmas. As if she were Santa Claus bringing presents. 

She didn’t know if he would be happy to have his work back but at least, like this, it was in his hands. He could keep it, sell it, destroy it - but it wouldn’t be under anyone else’s name. A stolen work brought back to its creator. 

That was one of the reasons Haru liked being the Beauty Thief. 

That, and jumping over rooftops was fun. 

\---

“Will you be out tonight?” Haru asked. She knew the answer. She had sent the calling card herself, after all. 

“Yes. And tonight, I will catch her. No matter what it takes,” Makoto said and curled her fingers into a fist. She wore gloves, leather pressed tightly against her skin. Haru wondered what it would feel like to be grasped by fingers veiled in leather like that. 

“Good luck, then,” Haru giggled and pressed a kiss to Makoto’s cheek. She fixed her collar and patted her shoulder softly. “And be careful.”

“As always,” Makoto laughed. Haru loved the sound of that, usually. When it didn’t mean glee over her own demise. Ah.

She didn’t want to be caught. Not even by Makoto. 

\---

The tiles of the rooftop were cold. Hard. Relentless. It didn’t hurt. Makoto made sure it wouldn’t. Had it always been so easy for her? 

No. No, Makoto adapted. She learned. She had watched her for so long, night after night. Almost grasped her the other night already. 

Haru should have known. She had felt too safe. Just like in movies, thieves always found a way to escape. But this wasn’t a movie and Makoto was Makoto. Diligent and smart, stubborn and proud - she wouldn’t have given up until she caught her. 

“It’s over, Beauty Thief,” she breathed down Haru’s neck from above. Shudders ran down her back in a most inappropriate kind of way.

Her whole body weight kept Haru down on her stomach, Makoto sitting on top of her lower back. She made it impossible to move, hands holding onto Haru’s wrists tightly after she had turned her arms onto her back. Classic inspector’s move. Haru was at a loss how to feel. 

“You’re mine now.” 

It was hard to feel frustrated when Makoto said those kinds of things. She probably knew. Haru hated how smart she was in situations like these after all. But it was also very… appealing. 

“If you believe you conquered me, then you are wrong,” Haru huffed. She didn’t try to wriggle free. Makoto’s strength exceeded hers. She had the more advantageous position too.

There had to be an opening. 

“Is that so.” 

Haru couldn’t see Makoto’s face. She sounded disappointed. Another trick, certainly. 

“You cannot conquer what is already yours,” Haru muttered. “You should know, Mako-chan.”

She stayed quiet. Her hands didn’t easy on their grip though. Haru’s cheek rested against the tiles of the rooftop, cool to the touch but not comfortable in the slightest. 

“Why?”

“Because I am-”

“No, not that. Why are you the Beauty Thief? Why?”

Haru didn’t know what to say. It had started for a stupid reason. Because she felt encaged by her life as the daughter of one of the richest men in town. Because she wanted a taste of that exciting life she read about in books. 

“Because I want to help those the police won’t take care of. People have had their possessions stolen. Some of those I stole from had too much. It is only fair to share, right? Everyone deserves to have something.”

“So, you’re stealing from the rich to give it to the poor and helpless. How noble,” Makoto drawled. “It is still against the law.”

“You let me do this, Mako-chan. You could have caught me much longer ago.” 

Makoto leant down. It was hard to breathe with her pressing down her weight on Haru’s upper body now. She could feel Makoto breathe against her ear and again, there were those goosebumps. 

It was exciting. 

“It was fun,” Makoto rasped, lips grazing against Haru’s earlobe. Ah. She did this on purpose. “To chase you down and give you a sense of safety. Of superiority. But don’t forget who truly holds the reigns.”

Haru gulped. She tried to turn her face, to see Makoto’s expression but there was no room to move for her. Only to flinch when Makoto’s lips wandered down her nape. They were burning against her skin, driving her utterly insane. 

That was absolutely Makoto’s intention.

And Haru loved it.

\---

Makoto’s eyes widened. “Hickeys? Haru… are you…”

“Enough of that,” Haru said, cheeks burning as she buttoned up her shirt. “I will not tolerate being accused of cheating on you. With /yourself/.”

“What did we say about identities,” Makoto chuckled. She sat upright in bed, blanket curled around her. 

“Your sense of humour eludes me, at times.”

“So does your hobby. I mean-”

“Identities, Mako-chan. You said it yourself.”

She laughed. And laughed. And she still laughed when she curled her arms around Haru and leant her head against her shoulder. It made Haru smile, too. She raised her hand to Makoto’s hair and brushed her fingers through it slowly. 

“That was exciting,” Makoto whispered and pressed a kiss against Haru’s shoulder. 

She blushed but still, she nodded. Furiously. An experience, certainly. She hadn’t been sure if she was going to be arrested or not. Makoto’s sense of humour was truly crooked, here and there. 

“Maybe we should do it more often, then,” Haru breathed against Makoto’s ear in turn. “ _Inspector._ ”

Makoto smiled against her shoulder. “Maybe we should, _Beauty Thief._ ”

Oh. It was still as appealing as the night before. Haru’s lips curled into a smile when she turned around to kiss Makoto. 

Another reason why she loved being the Beauty Thief.

**Author's Note:**

> please come visit me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/tobiyou) if you want to see more of my writing or chat with me! i'd be happy!


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